Rich Wesorick
Enthusiast
Archer and Loth compete in Inaugural races at Mid-America Motorplex
On May 18th and 19th, ViperSpeed Racing teammates Bobby Archer and Dr. Deborah Loth joined the Viper Days™ organization in christening the brand new Mid-America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa. The Viper Days™ event drew Vipers and their owners from over 20 states, and one driver from out of the country. Some Viper Days™ entrants attended for the driving school, while others, like Archer and Loth, were there to compete in the two Viper Racing League (VRL) races held on Saturday, May 18th and Sunday, May 19th.
The weekend was full of highs and lows for ViperSpeed teammates Archer and Loth who brought their SCCA T1 Vipers to Mid-America to compete in the VRL’s GT2 class. During qualifying for Saturday’s race, Loth’s No. 23 Bobby Archer Motorsports/ViperSpeed Viper developed engine trouble which caused her to miss the race. Thanks to the publicity efforts of the track, the local Viper club and Woodhouse Dodge, a huge crowd of race fans turned out to watch the VRL race on Saturday, which was the first-ever race at the new Mid-America track. In the race, Archer piloted his No. 32 SuperClubs Resorts/The Lodge/ViperSpeed Viper to victory in the GT2 class and finished 8th overall behind a host of the more fully-prepared GT1 Vipers.
On Sunday, Archer was asked to drive the GT1 Viper owned by John Weigel (aka “Johnny Yuma”) in the VRL race in order to evaluate the car’s competitiveness and sort out a vibration in the rear end. During practice, Weigel’s GT1 car suffered a failure in the rear end which the team was able to fix before qualifying for the race. With only five laps in the car prior to qualifying, Archer was still able to qualify the car in the third starting position for Sunday’s VRL race. With Archer driving a GT1 car, this meant that his No. 32 SCCA T1 Viper was available for Dr. Loth to race in the GT2 class, and race it she did… Loth did not qualify particularly well, but she moved up a few spots right at the start and then spent the second half of the race swapping positions with the GT1 cars of Howie Frank and Scott Gerow. Loth went on to win the GT2 class and finish in a respectable 9th place overall. Up at the front, Archer’s car was not handling quite as well as he would have liked, but he was able to move into second place and stay right on the tail of the leader, Mike McCann. The last few laps of the race saw Archer and McCann side-by-side through several turns, which made for quite a show for the thousands of race fans (7700 paid attendance) that had come out to watch the VRL race. To his credit, Mike was able to hold Bobby off and win the race. Bob Woodhouse, Rob Foster, and Jim McCann, respectively, rounded out the top five finishers.
In other Bobby Archer Motorsports news, two new drivers that are being supported by Bobby Archer Motorsports also enjoyed successful weekends. Dave Fiorelli piloted his Viper GTS to a win in his class in the Michelin Challenge Series portion of the Viper Days™ event at Mid-America, while Dan Knox drove his T1 Viper to victory in his first Regional T1 race at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI.
Next up for Archer is a return to SCCA T1 competition in the Southwest Division on May 25-26 at Texas World Speedway, where Dan Knox will make his Southwest Division T1 debut in Saturday’s Regional T1 race. Both Bobby Archer and Deborah Loth will be traveling Elkhart Lake, WI to compete in both the SCCA June Sprints at Road America on June 22-23. Prior to the June Sprints, Archer and Loth may also be attending the Viper Days™ event at Gingerman Raceway on June 14-16. More information on Archer and Loth can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
On May 18th and 19th, ViperSpeed Racing teammates Bobby Archer and Dr. Deborah Loth joined the Viper Days™ organization in christening the brand new Mid-America Motorplex in Pacific Junction, Iowa. The Viper Days™ event drew Vipers and their owners from over 20 states, and one driver from out of the country. Some Viper Days™ entrants attended for the driving school, while others, like Archer and Loth, were there to compete in the two Viper Racing League (VRL) races held on Saturday, May 18th and Sunday, May 19th.
The weekend was full of highs and lows for ViperSpeed teammates Archer and Loth who brought their SCCA T1 Vipers to Mid-America to compete in the VRL’s GT2 class. During qualifying for Saturday’s race, Loth’s No. 23 Bobby Archer Motorsports/ViperSpeed Viper developed engine trouble which caused her to miss the race. Thanks to the publicity efforts of the track, the local Viper club and Woodhouse Dodge, a huge crowd of race fans turned out to watch the VRL race on Saturday, which was the first-ever race at the new Mid-America track. In the race, Archer piloted his No. 32 SuperClubs Resorts/The Lodge/ViperSpeed Viper to victory in the GT2 class and finished 8th overall behind a host of the more fully-prepared GT1 Vipers.
On Sunday, Archer was asked to drive the GT1 Viper owned by John Weigel (aka “Johnny Yuma”) in the VRL race in order to evaluate the car’s competitiveness and sort out a vibration in the rear end. During practice, Weigel’s GT1 car suffered a failure in the rear end which the team was able to fix before qualifying for the race. With only five laps in the car prior to qualifying, Archer was still able to qualify the car in the third starting position for Sunday’s VRL race. With Archer driving a GT1 car, this meant that his No. 32 SCCA T1 Viper was available for Dr. Loth to race in the GT2 class, and race it she did… Loth did not qualify particularly well, but she moved up a few spots right at the start and then spent the second half of the race swapping positions with the GT1 cars of Howie Frank and Scott Gerow. Loth went on to win the GT2 class and finish in a respectable 9th place overall. Up at the front, Archer’s car was not handling quite as well as he would have liked, but he was able to move into second place and stay right on the tail of the leader, Mike McCann. The last few laps of the race saw Archer and McCann side-by-side through several turns, which made for quite a show for the thousands of race fans (7700 paid attendance) that had come out to watch the VRL race. To his credit, Mike was able to hold Bobby off and win the race. Bob Woodhouse, Rob Foster, and Jim McCann, respectively, rounded out the top five finishers.
In other Bobby Archer Motorsports news, two new drivers that are being supported by Bobby Archer Motorsports also enjoyed successful weekends. Dave Fiorelli piloted his Viper GTS to a win in his class in the Michelin Challenge Series portion of the Viper Days™ event at Mid-America, while Dan Knox drove his T1 Viper to victory in his first Regional T1 race at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI.
Next up for Archer is a return to SCCA T1 competition in the Southwest Division on May 25-26 at Texas World Speedway, where Dan Knox will make his Southwest Division T1 debut in Saturday’s Regional T1 race. Both Bobby Archer and Deborah Loth will be traveling Elkhart Lake, WI to compete in both the SCCA June Sprints at Road America on June 22-23. Prior to the June Sprints, Archer and Loth may also be attending the Viper Days™ event at Gingerman Raceway on June 14-16. More information on Archer and Loth can be found at www.bobbyarchermotorsports.com and www.viperspeed.com.
